


What It Means To Be

by MimiSeda



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Babysitting, Bonds, Character Development, Dialogue Heavy, Father Jake Park, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Growing Up, Marriage, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parenthood, Slice of Life, Swearing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, baby talk, longfic, male or female reader - Freeform, other characters to be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:54:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27994086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimiSeda/pseuds/MimiSeda
Summary: Jake Park lives in a (sometimes) peaceful  forest with his lover, his beloved daughter, and a cabin he mostly built by himself, proudly so.The radiant, perfect image of the life ahead of them is set in his mind.However, things don’t always go the way they’re planned. Stricken from his father’s parenting methods, Jake faces his own plethora of challenges with his daughter.
Relationships: Dwight Fairfield/David King, Jake Park/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Understanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of inseparable bonds.

**_ Disputes _ **

“Jake, she’s curious about you.”

A small toddler peeks out from behind your legs, intently staring up at the grumpy, scruffy woodsman you’re talking to. She blinks once, a few times before her thick eyebrows scrunch downwards. A million thoughts run through her head, but stopped once she hears you speak again.

”But, she can’t approach you because you don’t spend enough time with her. Don’t you ever think that she misses you?”

Jake, the scruffy woodsman in question, narrows his dark-brown eyes in disdain as he slowly shook his head at you. “I do what I need to do for our family and our home.” The man retaliates, wishing not to have this conversation right now, especially with a task in mind. “I’m going out. We’re gonna need more food for tonight.”

His nonchalant attitude made you cross your arms and huff silently. The words come to your thoughts, before Jake could decide to do whatever he wanted to do. “And I appreciate that. Really, you don’t know how grateful I am, but we have enough food, Jake!”

He shook his head again. “I want us to be set for the week.”

”We. Are.” You, almost angrily, emphasized with a raise of your eyebrows. “I checked the cabinets and the freezer today, we’re fine! I.. get that you love your work and all, but don’t forget that she needs your attention too.” You placed your hand on your daughter’s head, scratching lightly at her soft hair. The toddler is silent at your endearing gestures, but she reached up and gently pushed your hand away, never taking her big brown eyes off her father.

Jake’s tiresome gaze follows your hand, then he eventually glances at the tiny child, who just kept gawking at him. She shuffled and hid further behind your legs though, still making sure that Jake is within her line of sight. After thirty seconds of just staring at each other, Jake breathes in and sighs deeply.

”I’m going.”

His answer somehow surprised you, but you continued to hold your ground. ”No, you’re not.”

”Yes, I am. (Y/n).” He said more harshly than intended, deciding to try and end this annoying little argument by going to the closet and grabbing his green, puffy coat. 

”Jake, please..” You pleaded with a strained tone now, your voice unable to go unnoticed by him. His shoulders slumped as he groaned internally. Whenever you sounded like that, he knew he must’ve hurt some feelings. “Remember when you promised that you wouldn’t be like  him ?”

”Peas.” Whispers the kid, but her parents didn’t hear her. She now wrapped her arms around your knee, finding it much more interesting than Jake right now.

The man stopped what he was doing, standing with one of his arms within the coat sleeve and the other hand holding up the garment. His expression is hidden, but his eyes are a bit widened in slight disbelief while he looks at you over his shoulder. Right, he thought as he lowered his arms. You were talking about his father, Jake knew. His father valued his work more than he valued the well-being of his family. Sure he gave them everything that they needed to carry on with life. To him, everything could be solved with hard labor and money, not love. Ugh.. Jake moves a hand to his messy, dark hair, scratching softly at his scalp in thought. 

That’s kind of what he’s doing, huh? Being just like..

“Yeah.. yeah, I remember.”

”You’re still keeping that promise. Right..?” You give him that look. That one look, that one saddened gaze he hates so much because he simply can’t bring himself to say no to it. It only worsens the longer he stares into your (e/c) eyes, unknowingly alluring and bewitching him into a powerful, unwanted spell.

Son of a-

Jake sighs inwardly and says nothing as he shrugs his arm out of the sleeve of his coat, then hangs it up neatly in the closet. “I am.” He grumbled, turning around to face you with a childish frown. 

You smile despite his scowl. “I’m glad!” You walked up and kissed his cheek, a spot above his beard which tingled of heat with your affection. “Here. Don’t be scared now, you know who he is, yeah?” You coo and gently grab your child by her shoulder, carefully bringing her out of hiding with no trouble from her. Once she and Jake stood in front of one another, you stepped back to admire the two in sheer happiness. “Be careful with her!” You chirped.

”I know.” Jake mumbled.

”And don’t let her run you over.”

”Mmm.” He rumbled, watching as you left the room to leave the two be. Jake clicked his tongue, something told him that you just wanted time to yourself. The thought made him want to chuckle, especially as he thought of silly ways to get some small revenge.

The tiny girl in front of him clicks her tongue however, immediately catching Jake’s attention. He sighed for the thousandth time. To this day, he’s still astonished by how much his daughter looked like him. She has big, buggy brown eyes that were folded like his, although his are narrow. She didn’t have his skin tone, he thinks, but she did have his floofy hair. Her hair is styled into two big fluff-balls, the wavy and curly strands bouncing with each step the baby took. She even had his strong brows: when Jake slept he always looked angry at something, at least, that’s what you told him. She did the very same thing, looking like she’s ready to fight someone in her sleep. 

”So. M’stuck with you, hm?” He spoke, hoping to make small talk. She can talk. Right?

The puffball waddled comically towards him, the soles of her comfortable, light-pink onesie patting the ground softly.

Jake should make her another one soon. He quickly thought of a cute pattern he could go with.

”Want to play?” He asked when he realized she didn’t answer his first question.

”Aa, ohwee.” She finally spoke, so casually as if she’s making perfect sense.

Jake tilts his head at her gibberish. “What?”

”Wha? What.” She mimicked, bringing her hands to her stomach and fiddling with her fingers.

”No, I’m asking you what.” He points

“No, I ashee. Oh?” She smiles now, penguin-walking towards Jake until she can see his face closely. Well. As close as she can get, being under half his height. “Hii.”

”Uh, hey?” He responded hesitantly, reaching down and hooking his hands under her arms to pick her up. “You uh, having a good day?” Jake gave a flick of a smile, finding hers to be a bit contagious. He noticed it grew wider and felt fuzzy inside once the child rose a palm and touched his prominent cheekbones. 

“Bee?” She asked.

“Bee?” Jake chuckles, shoulders shaking. “There’s no bees in here. Is there?” He turned his head to look around the room, eyeing the window covered by a dark-red curtain. Just as he began to glance over at the bed and end-tables, he felt something yank at his beard.

“Bee!” Shouts the child, who’s currently occupied with terrorizing Jake. The man winced with a grunt once the kid started to play with his beard, seeing her staring wide-eyed at it while pulling. 

“Hey, hey! No.”

”No!” She playfully responded, giggling like crazy afterwards.

Jake grumbled under his breath, pulling his daughter away from his face once she let go for even a second. He held the troublesome munchkin away from his beard, watching her stubby hands try and reach him. “I said no.”

”Hmph..” She pouts in disappointment, but didn’t cry. Instead, she wiggles in Jake’s hold and went limp, trying to make herself heavy enough for him to put her down. It always worked with you, so it might work with Jake.

... Maybe.

Good thing he’s an outdoorsman. “You done?”

”You doh?” 

“Yeah, I’m done. Are you?”

”Ah, yee.” She returns to her posture, instantly forgetting why she got mad in the first place. Jake holds back another laugh, holding the toddler closer in his arms. The girl stops struggling and rests her head against his chest, her puffballs tickling the hairs on his beard. Jake makes a mental note to shave his facial hair soon. As much as he didn’t want to admit to himself, her sudden attack on him did hurt.

“Um. You wanna go play?”

”Ooo.”

”Do you want to play?” He said more clearly, less lazily.

”Play? Ya, play.”

”Sounds like playtime to me. C’mon, I’ll make you a toy or somethin’.”

”Toy? Yeah, toy.”

Jake chuckles with his toothy smile. “Yes, toy.”

**_ Crafting Time _ **

”Don’t touch that.” Jake warns the kid, carefully carving a little ball out of light wood.

He and his daughter sat in her room, the room carpeted with pale-pink flooring and dark-brown wallpaper with chocolate candies designed all over it.

Jake hated this wall.

The man sat in a chair with a pink and blue bow tied around it, while his daughter waddled around two feet away from him. She’s carrying part of an unfinished toy that Jake is currently working on.

”That.” The girl. She’s messing with some pieces of wood made to resemble a rabbit, which Jake learned some time ago to possibly be her favorite animal.

”Yeah, uh-huh that. Don’t touch it or else it’ll fall apart. It’s not finished.”

She slowly turns her big, slightly nodding head at him, brows moved together with faint lines on the “T” zone of her face. It was like she’s telling Jake to shut up, but didn’t know the words to tell him.

Jake stops carving and returns the glare with a low hum. Faint lines gathered between his thick eyebrows as well. 

The two glared sharp daggers at each other, exchanging unspoken words that are only understood and spoken through by their intense expressions. This piercing and childish staring contest goes on and on, until the little one eventually broke the stare and started playing with the unfinished wooden rabbit again. “Brree.”

”Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Jake stated victoriously, going back to his artwork. “Now put it down already, it’s not do-“ 

Click. 

Clack. 

Clatter, clatter, roll.

Welp.

True to the man’s words, the rabbit fell apart in such a morbid, melodramatic manner. The legs and paws fell off the body, one of the ears got stuck in the holes of the toy and the other ear rolled to the child’s feet, bouncing off her toes.

”.. Told you so.” Jake spoke nonchalantly and shrugged, continuing to carve a rabbit’s tail out of wood in peace.

The toddler sighed in a high-pitched voice.

”Yep, yep. That’s what happens when you-“

Another sigh, this one a higher pitch than the last one. It was softly dragged out, the child clicking her tongue occasionally. She quickly breathes in and out, her breath jittering. Confused, Jake looks up from his work to see his kid looking at anything but him, tears pooling in her eyes and teeth biting her fingernails. Her eyes are puffy as she dropped the broken doll, breathing in and out slowly and trying not to wail.

Jake relaxes a bit in realization. Still worried, he sets the tail and the knife down in a place where the kid couldn’t reach, up on a nearby dresser that’s bolted to a wall. He then stands up with a low grunt, picking up his daughter and holding her close.

”Sorry. I tried to warn you, y’know?” He patted her back with one hand, hoping to calm her down.

”Whee.. sorry..”

”It’s okay, hey.. don’t cry.”

She sniffles, leaning forward to rest her head on Jake’s shoulder. She’s still crying, but is no longer making any noise while doing so. “‘Kay.”

”I’ll fix it, alright? But only if you don’t touch it. You can have it when I’m done making it.”

The girl nodded, fluff-balls bouncing against the man’s face again. Thankfully, she understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parenting is lovely.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	2. First Signs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake learns more about his daughter.
> 
> You find yourself being the worrywart parent.

**_ Kiddish Promises _ **

The house is silent and dark.

Aside from a dimly lit lamp giving light to the living-room, the home is peaceful with no noises. No interruptions. No troubles.

Well. Except _one_.

The child carefully opens the creaking, light-pink door to her room. She steps out into the mahogany hall, two toys in one hand while holding her flowery print, sippy cup in the other. She has one, burning question in mind.

Where the hell is Papa?

Before the man lulled her to sleep by reading the same, boring children’s book with that irritating, monotonous voice of his; he promised her a cup of juice. But instead, he sneakily put her to bed without giving her the drink. 

This is unacceptable.

Be it she dreamt of the juice or she has a personal vendetta against Jake, she remembers his promise and she will get her juice no matter the time. Upon waddling away from the door, she approaches her parents room. In a single process she puts down her cup, twists the doorknob, pushing the door open, then arriving with her cup back in tow. Her feet pats the floor in an attempt to stomp towards the sleeping couple like she rightfully owns the place. Approaching the bed, she climbs onto it with some struggle, then finds herself sitting in front of you.

.. Huh.

The toddler looks at her snoozing parents before her in a confusing manner. You’re sleeping next to Jake, but in a very odd way: You’re curled up against him with the blanket only covering your legs. Jake hogged most of the blanket, with it covering up to his torso. Speaking of the man, he has one arm wrapped lazily around your waist. Jake’s face is pressed against yours, cheek squishing in a silly way that forces him to have fishy lips.

The child giggles a little as she makes her way straight for the snoring, fishy lips man. She carelessly steps on both you to achieve her goal, surprisingly awakening none of you. Once she’s near Jake, she holds out her sipping cup and simply speaks with a slight attitude:

“Papa.”

“...” Jake continues to snore. His shoulder shook at her voice, but no more than that.

The child frowns at his lack of a reaction. “Pap-Papa!”

“Mmm.. What..?”

“Paa!” The child raises her small, little hands and slaps Jake’s face two times. The reckless action startles the man wide awake from his half-asleep stupor, causing his vision to blur and his heart to race momentarily. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he immediately finds his kid sitting on the edge of the bed, probably scrambled there after she finished her assault on him. Her frown is lost, replaced with an innocent expression like she didn’t just outright attack him. In the dark room, Jake could make out her soft features with the help of the dim moonlight piercing it’s way through a light curtain by the bed.

Eventually deeming her safe, the man takes a glance next to him to find you sleeping soundly and peacefully. You didn’t seem the least bit bothered by their sudden movements, especially when Jake jolted out of his sleep. He felt tempted to wake you up so that the child can bother the both you instead (that, and he wanted someone to talk to while dealing with her), but decided against being a jerk and avoiding your scoldings.

Jake groans tiredly. He rubs one side of his neck as he sees the little puffball crawl unceremoniously next to you, again, uncaring if she woke you up or not. In her left hand, she held two toys that were carved to resemble buildings: one similar to a restaurant, the other one being a bank. She sets down the toys right next to your face, watching in disinterest as the restaurant fell over.

“Neenee.”

“What?” Jake carefully pulls the blanket off of him, making sure not to wake you up. Standing up on his feet, he yawns quietly and takes a moment to stretch out his light, but stiff muscles. 

“Wha?” Repeats the puffball.

“What is a nee nee?” He asks after he’s done stretching, walking his way over to the girl.

“Oh, neenee. Yumm..” She leans forward, getting closer to you. The toddler opens her mouth, then quite literally face plants herself onto your cheek. Thankfully she doesn’t bite, Jake learnt that this is her version of a kiss, albeit.. weird for several reasons. By the time she pulls away, it leaves him trying to contain laughter bubbling up inside him.

“C’mere c’mere, don’t do that to (Y/n).” He snickered while whispering, picking the puffball up as she quickly snatched up her toys. Looking at the glimmering patch of saliva on your face, he leaves the silent room in a small fit of laughter. 

Man, if only he had a camera.

Stepping out of the room with his daughter in his arms, he makes his way down the hall and into the living room, setting the munchkin on a counter nearby a sink. Jake turns on the faucet, grabbing the cup out of his daughter’s hand. Seeing the water, the puffball disdainfully hums. “Water?”

Jake nods, cleaning and rinsing the cup out before filling it with cold water. “You’re not getting juice at this time of night.”

Her heart dropped. “Why?”

“You’ll get hyper.”

“Oh, bree.. Get hyper?”

“No. No getting hyper.” He turns off the faucet after nearly overflowing the cup with water. He pours some of it into the sink, then screws the cap back on. “It’ll take forever to put you back to sleep.”

She whines, reluctantly taking the cup as Jake handed it to her. “Promise..” She mumbled.

“What?” Jake raises an eyebrow, scooping the little one back into his arms.

“Promise.” She said more clearly now, with only a bit of trouble. Her voice is still heavy with sadness, trembling with an indication that she’s on the verge of crying. “Promise..”

Jake’s eyelids lowered with realization. He didn’t.. actually think that she would remember him saying that, let alone know what the word promise meant. He guessed that he really shouldn’t make promises he wouldn’t keep of course, but she’s smarter than he thinks that’s for sure. “Right.. Just don’t tell (Y/n), I’ll never hear the end of it.”

And just like that, happiness easily overcomes the feeling of sadness. “Okay!”

“Okay?”

“Mhm.”

“Alright, good.” Jake grabs the cup again, beginning to carry out this silly promise. “I’m serious, don’t snitch on me.”

“Snitch.” She repeats.

**_ Preference _ **

“They’re called dioramas.” You explained to the puffball.

She doesn’t respond yet, but her face scrunches up into that of pure confusion. “Wha?” 

“Dio-rama.”

“Ohh. Diorah.”

You giggled, shaking your head. “No no, dioRAHma.

“Diorah.”

“Diorama.”

“Dio.”

You sighed. It isn’t exactly what you wanted, but you’ll take what you can get for now. She’ll learn one day. Before the two of you are a few boxes, each containing dioramas: one of the lush forest you, your child, and Jake lives in. The other of a vast sea and a large ship, and the last being a rather colorful city. The dolls inside are mostly feminine, the entire structures being made out of clay by Jake and thoughtfully painted by you. The project wasn’t easy, but the fact that your daughter often played with these toys made it so worth it. 

“Here. Your dad and I fixed them for you.” You grabbed the box that contained the forest and handed it her, ever so eager to watch and basically play dolls with her.

“Thank you!” Just as you were about to gush over her politeness, she got up, deliberately avoided the box in your hands, and pulled the diorama which resembled a city. She slid it towards herself as she sat down with a soft ‘thud’.“This one.”

You were taken aback at first, but soon smiled and nodded at her. “You like the city?” You asked, setting down the small, forest structure and moving over to play with the toddler. Eyeing a doll whose dressed for an office job, you picked up and made it “walk” down a sidewalk.

“Yeah, city.” Your daughter answered, spouting about random gibberish afterwards. You watched as she picked up a doll dressed in a pink dress, a floppy hat, and sunglasses. She began interacting with your toy, initiating a “fight” scene by aggressively hitting it against the office lady.

“Raar!”

“Awe, hey!” You failed to contain the laughter in your voice, while trying to reason with her. “That’s not nice, fighting is bad.” You let go of your doll, feigning a sad voice as soon as it rested on the sidewalk. “See? You made her sad..” The kid immediately gasps, carelessly dropping her toy and picking up the office lady. “I sorry! I-eee!” She began speaking in soft gibberish this time, obviously attempting to console the “lady”. You couldn’t help but to just snicker. Is this bad? The dolls weren’t real anyways. 

Ah well, you kind of hoped it helped that she wouldn’t terrorize poor Jake in his sleep anymore.

“Food.” Said the puffball, making her dolls go to a restaurant and order food. You just watched in content now, getting more proud each time she looked at a meal and said, “Burger” or “Salad”, or “Pop”. When you and Jake introduced her to these mimicking structures, she took more interest in the city one, rather than the ocean and forest. Occasionally, you’d catch her playing with the last two, but the city is her favorite. The paint would often wear off on it, needing to have more work done on it every time you and Jake fixed her toys. You two discussed different colors to paint the buildings, houses. Eventually, it got to the point where Jake happily stated that he’ll learn to create a big ’ol dollhouse for her.

Your heart swelled and filled up with a fuzzy warmth. But then, your smile fell.

You really, _really_ hoped that your daughter wouldn’t grow up to favor the city. It was wrong to feel this way, you knew, and you wouldn’t stop her if she ever becomes.. curious. Now, it wasn’t that you didn’t like the urban side of the world. In fact you didn’t care where you lived, as long as you’re with Jake and your daughter. No, the problem lies with your husband disliking the society due to his past. 

This thought came to you often, every time you woke up to brush your teeth, or trying to fall asleep with this worry looming over your head. Granted, Jake is usually casual and laidback about a ton of things. Of course he’s much more strict when it comes to family, who isn’t? But, you hoped that despite his past, he would push away his aversion for er, humanity and come to accept his daughter’s wishes. Again, should she ever become that curious.

You breathed a silent sigh through your nose. Tonight, you two would talk about this. For now though, your child is about to move the ocean diorama upside down and you needed to stop that before she broke anything again. “That’s not how you play with that!” You childishly stated, moving her hands to make her set the box right.

“Water fall?”

“Hm? You want a waterfall?”

“Yeah, water.”

You smiled again. “Ohh, alrighty.” You reached over to give her a cheeky, but loving peck on her forehead. Amused when she places a hand on that same spot. “Okay then, we’ll make you a waterfall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to revamp this story and take it on a much, much different route than before. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	3. What Ifs and What Abouts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The answers are simple, but are they really?

**_ Questions _ **

“It’s bedtiime.” You sang.

“Okay.” She deadpanned.

You rose an eyebrow. “I’m _serious_ , it’s time to sleep. No playing around, alright?”

“Sleep.”

“Lie down, close your eyes, get all comfy and relaxed.”

The puffball follows your orders, lying down in her small, pink and purple bed made to look like some kind of princess’ race car. She snuggles comfortably within her soft, patched blanket of matching colors, then rests her head on her plush pillow. She kept her somewhat janky rabbit plushie in tow, one of the brown buttons for eyes being bigger than the other. “Awee, thank you.” You chirped softly, reaching down and planting a kiss on her forehead. She immediately turns around and eagerly tries to do the same for you. However..

“Aah yum.” The child lies back down to see you looking down at her with a sheepish smile. The smile accompanied by nervous laughter and a fantastic, shining spot of spit on your forehead. 

“T-Thank you, eheh..” You spoke, regaining your posture after you hear her giggle at your obvious uneasiness. “I love you, sweet dreams.”

“I lo-.. yeah?”

Now it was your turn to have a fit of giggles. “I. Love. You.” You pronounced each word clearly, cooing a little to try and soothe your child’s confusion.

“I love you.” The puffball said, and you couldn’t help but to feel super giddy and proud.

“I love you too! Goodnight sweetie.”

“Goodni-eee yah.”

Your chest jittered. You decided not to correct her on her speech at the moment; she needed to get some sleep and you needed to accompany Jake in bed. The man may have been a loner at one point, but if he wanted cuddles, then he is getting his cuddles. It really didn’t help that your daughter inherited his adamant nature. If she wanted something, she’ll do everything in her tiny little baby power to get it. It’s no wonder she and her father often bickered, Jake simply can’t handle his mini-me, for now.

The sounds of child-like gibberish quickly pulled you out of your thoughts, as you realized that the puffball is trying to speak to you again. Amused, you whispered one more “Sweet dreams” to her, then turned around to leave the room. You switched off the light, pleased to see that her orange night light just barely illuminated the room. Soon, you left the room and closed the door behind you, hearing the child talk gibberish to herself now. Talking herself to sleep, if you will.

. . . 

Jake settled down into bed with a content sigh, taking his rightful spot next to you. With both of you fresh out of a rather warm and rosy bath, he stayed behind for a bit before joining you to rest. Noticing the mattress and blankets shifting with his weight, you strained to open your tired eyes to get a good look at him. You blinked once, twice.

“You know she’s not gonna like that, right?” You began with a mischievous grin.

“Not like what?” Jake questioned with hints of playful undertones, going from the sitting position to finally laying down. He watched as your hand rose and your index finger trailed along his now smooth jawline. You caressed the skin above his lips, holding back a squeal when Jake suddenly nibbled you.

“Stoppit!” You squeaked.

“Nope. Answer me.”

You pouted at him, retracting your hand after you growled a bit. “She’s not gonna like that you shaved your beard..!”

“I.. really can’t bring myself to care right now.”

“I know, I know.” You closed your eyes,feeling half-asleep. “She only pulled at your beard once, though. Right..?”

“Nope, multiple times.”

“Awee.” You smiled, moving a bit to get more comfortable in your spot, finding the colder points of the bed. “Grow it back, she likes your beard.”

“Well that’s too bad, isn’t it?”

“Don’t be like that..!”

“I’m gonna be _exactly_ like that, (Y/n).” You felt him scoot closer to you, your senses overshadowed by his presence alone. You greedily indulged in this, his rosy, but woodland scent releasing tension you didn’t know you had. You can smell a bit of his aftershave clashing with his clean clothes, then a faint smell of something.. baking? You hummed incredulously. “Jake, did you leave the oven on?”

“.. No.”

“Oh? Are you sure, because-“

“That’s your job.”

You instantly opened your eyes, a bit offended at that statement. “Oh please, I never leave the-mm!” His hand clasped over your lips, his expression tired and lazy, but you can make out a tinge of amusement tugging at his lips. 

“That’s bull and you know it. Remember when I went out fishing at that lake we found the other day?”

“Mmmph..” You pulled weakly at his fingers.

“You damn near burned the house down.”

“Mmph!” You bit lightly, making him withdraw his hand and stare at it nonchalantly. “I did not!”

“Mmhmm.” He answered, making you roll your eyes and then close them. 

“Mhm, go to sleep.” You retaliated.

“After you.” Jake scooted closer, pushing your head into his collarbone and wrapping his arm around your waist. The two of you stayed like this for five, long minutes. Neither of you were able to fall-asleep, despite being almost out of energy and previously ordering each other to. Some nights are like this, and to cope one of you often “advanced” towards the other to burn whatever hidden energy is inside. It seemed like a good idea right now. You couldn’t recall a time it didn’t work and it has been a while since the two of you had some alone time together; so when you snuggled deeper into his comfortable hold and pressed soft kisses against his neck..

You gasped as your lips were immediately greeted with a grain/cake like object, throwing you completely off guard.

“Wha?” You snapped open your eyes, finding that Jake is nudging a cereal bar against your bottom lip. His expression was maliciously impish, like he was holding in a laugh.

Where did he get this from?

How did he open the wrapper without you hearing it? 

Where IS the wrapper? You swore in your head that if he was trashing the bed you’d-

“Eat.” His voice broke through, again surprising you.

“Jake! I-we.. That’s messy. We can’t eat in bed!”

“Not if with that attitude.” His voice vibrated above you. He kept nudging the cereal bar on your lips, gradually making it harder and harder for you to not eat it. “Stop iit.” You whined.

“Yeah you don’t want me to, now eat.”

“Hmm..” Ah.. what the hell. He went through the all of that trouble of hiding the snack and giving it to you when you least expected it.

Then again, he could’ve just given you the damn treat from the start.

But, Jake is a creative man and somehow full of surprises, nevermind his languid attitude. Besides, him feeding like this is somewhat romantic. With that in mind, you leaned forward and bit into the snack, feeling grateful for your husband’s er.. thoughtfulness. The bar is filled of sweet strawberries and cheerios, the bottom being a strawberry cream that overwhelmed your taste buds. You kept biting, feeling Jake’s eyes boring into your soul above you. At the time when he was just your boyfriend, this moment probably would’ve made you flustered and embarrassed and stuttering and cheesy things like that. 

And it still kind of did.

But, you eventually got used to it. Some feelings may never die though. “It’sh sho good..” You spoke sleepily through of mouthful of strawberry cereal, the food further pulling you into a dream-like state.

“Is it? I’ll get more for you, then.” 

Awe, how sweet of him. Again, he just goes out of his way to-

Wait. That statement.

It caused your slow chewing to come to a halt. Get more? You’ve only seen these kinds of snacks in, well, civilization. Jake only gone near civilization if it was absolutely necessary, like for non-perishable goods, tools, things like that. Never for just some snacks. This continuously thought stacked upon others, until you remembered something. Something that you wanted to talk to him about. You swallowed down the food in your mouth before speaking. “Jake, you went to the city?”

“Pfft, no. I got this at a gas station, it was kinda isolated.”

“Oh.. Well, uhm. Would you ever go back?”

“Go back where? The gas station?” When he realized you were too distracted to eat the rest of the bar, he finished it for you. 

“No no, to the city.” You tensed as you said the word, as if it was taboo.

You were met with silence and soft chewing, guessing that he wanted to eat before speaking. Jake is not entirely without manners, but you can practically hear the gears turning in his head. When he finished, he responded.

“Well, not unless it’s important.”

“I know! But..” Your eyes opened for the nth time, eyelids having a tug of war between being awake or falling asleep. “Would you ever go back, if our daughter wanted to?” You’ve gone straight to the point. Beating around the bush would probably bore Jake to sleep. That, or it would annoy him.

“.. I knew you were gonna ask that one day. You think way too much.” He groaned almost childishly, snaking a hand in your hair and cradling your head. “Of course. If she ever wants to go the city, we’ll go. But, we’re not living there.” Goodness.. That response eased some of your worries. He said yes, but then that begs the question: what if she did want to live there? “She’ll be old enough to make her own decisions one day.” You heard Jake say, as if he was reading your mind.

“I know, but- Would it be wrong of us to say no?”

“We don’t really have a choice, (Y/n). We can’t just, y’know, go back.” He began scratching at your scalp occasionally, soothing you and creating new itches that he scratched. “We’ll need a job, a lot money, god knows how much the world might have changed since we left. We can’t trade the life we have now for a shitty one.”

You went silent, subconsciously resting one of your legs over his. He had a point, a ton of things may have changed ever since you two lived in the woods. Only Jake has been to the city since you moved in with him, even then he’d take up freelance work to make money to buy the cheap things he needed. No matter the price, he’d turn or refurbish them into something more valuable so he wouldn’t have to leave often.

Still, a lot questions ran through your mind. You never grew up in a forest, but your daughter is going through that process. How would she turn out? Wouldn’t she need friends soon? Hell, what if she becomes curious about other family members? Grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts and-

“(Y/n), go to sleep.”

You shook a little, heart thumping in your ears. “I’m just worried..”

“Don’t be.” Jake spoke fondly, pulling you in to peck at your forehead. In turn, you rested your hands and head against his chest. “We’ll figure it out, alright?” He added.

And just like that, you relaxed. “I hope so..”

**_ 5 Years Old _ **

“A. Bee. Cee. Dee. Ee. Ef-“ Jake listened intently, hearing her say each letter more easily than some others. At times she’d get letters mixed up, like R and S, or M and N, the most notorious one. Luckily for her, he’s there to tutor. “Arr, ess, tee, vee-“

“Ah, you forgot the letter “U”.” Jake corrected.

The kid rose a skeptical brow at her father, then she shook her head. “No I didn’t!”

“Yes you did.”

“Show me!” She crossed her arms, overly confident that she’s right and that he’s just simply, wrong. 

“I’ll get the answer sheet then.” The girl watched as Jake shrugged and grab a large strip of paper in front of them. He flipped it over, revealing the glittery grand and colorful letters of the alphabet. The child hummed, squinting her suspicious brown eyes at the letters. Her face contorted into confusion, then realization, and finally a pouty face full of sadness. “Oh.. I did.”

Jake chuckled, setting down the paper. “It’s fine, don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“What? I’m not doing that, it’s gonna hurt.” 

“That was a- nevermind. C’mon, get up.” The girl stood up as he did, stretching while wondering why their fun study lesson stopped. “What’s wrong, Papa?”

“I’m bored, that’s what wrong.”

“Oh okay. Uhm.. can we play with toys?”

He scoffed at her suggestion. “You play with your dolls all day, don’t ya? Let’s go outside or somethin’.” 

She beamed at him, brown eyes gleaming. “Okay! Wait for me, I need my shoes.” The puffball scrambled into her closet to fetch her shoes, leaving Jake by himself to wait patiently and contemplate at the wall. He felt proud of himself. Why?

He got rid of that ugly ass wallpaper with pictures of chocolate. He recalled the first time he got it; he was just turning 21 and he found it on one of his dumpster diving adventures. It wasn’t that long after he abandoned his family, so his mind wasn’t exactly in the.. right place. He kept it up until last year, where he declared that he was throwing it out. Now he doesn’t dislike chocolate, in fact it’s one of the only sweets he tolerates. But, just pure chocolate as his kid’s wallpaper? Hell no. There’s no more wallpaper, instead it is painted in stripes and bubbles filled of soft, cotton candy pink and baby blues. (Mostly pink, insisted by his lover.)

Jake snapped back into reality once the kid walked out of her closet, wearing her red boots and light-blue hoodie. Her long, wavy and dark-brown hair spilled over her shoulders, the rest of it going as long as to her back.

Thank the nature.

She was trying to zip her hoodie up, but had trouble doing so. Seeing her troubles, Jake immediately walked over and instantly zipped up her jacket. It initiated a short, awkward silence of them staring blankly at each other. “It’s simple, just like that.”

“It got stuck, Papa.”

“It wasn’t stuck.”

“Listen to my.. talking!” She huffed, crossing her arms again. “It _did_ get stuck.”

“Then get stronger, start eating all of your veggies.” He gestured his head to the door, urging her to follow him despite grabbing her hand. “By the way, just say “Listen to me”, okay?”

She nodded and held his hand tight, following after him. “But, squash is really nasty. And that green stuff too.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. Hold on.” He hushed and guided her towards his room’s door, opening it to peak his head in. From there, he saw you sitting cross-legged on the bed, eating a small bowl of ice cream. His favorite ice cream. You looked like a deer caught in headlights and Jake’s bewildered stare only served to worsen your situation. 

“Ah..”

“Alright, alright. But, you better share some of yours.” Right after he said that, your daughter curiously peaked her head in. Eyes wide with wonder.

“I-I will!” You responded nervously.

“Also, we’re going outside. I was gonna ask if you wanted to come, but uh-“

“No! No, here I come!” You quickly emptied your bowl and got up, torn between taking the dish to the sink or finding your clothes now. Trying not to tease you right then and there, Jake walked in and graciously took the dish in your hands. 

“Go get dressed ya little pig, we’ll be waiting for you in the living-room.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing more characters next chapter.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	4. The New People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More bickering, more family time, and most importantly, an introduction to another family.

**_ S’mores _ **

_I can’t go a day without thinking about it._

_That day, where it all started._

_Maybe if I’d been more patient, they wouldn’t have felt the need to give up everything for me._

_But at the same time, their smile was never pained and it still isn’t._

_They’re happy, but I feel terrible._

. . . 

“It’s burnt, don’t eat that.” 

“Why?”

“Because it’s burnt. You _burned_ it to a crisp, it’s gonna taste bad now.”

“No it won’t!”

“Yes you- Alright, eat it then.” Jake instigated with a conceited smirk.

“Jake-“ You attempt to chime in, but he sternly raises a hand to interrupt you. You sigh lowly and bit into your s’more, the man always seemed to have a petty need of proving someone wrong, doesn’t matter who they are.

Your child glared at Jake, as he threw his own glare back at her. Once again, the two initiated a silent war that exchanged no words, no violence, just giving childish looks that could still potentially kill. She continues to stare at him while holding the horribly blackened marshmallow, bringing it closer to her face, then biting confidently into the crunchy abomination.

“Umpf!!” Her breath hitched and her eyes widened.

It tasted _terrible_.

Jake’s lips twitched into a victorious smirk, he had the purest form of “I told you so!” face going on. “See? You overdid it, just make yourself another one.“ He instructed, basking in the glory for a few more seconds. 

That is, until his little moment of triumph stopped when he heard a gulp and an “ahem” coming from two different people. Jake first glanced at his daughter, who flawlessly copied his triumphant smile from earlier. She didn’t just eat part of that disgustingly burnt, charcoal of a marshmallow.

She ate all of it. 

The man’s expression dropped, especially when he looked over to see you crossing your arms at him. You rose an unamused eyebrow as you spoke. “You can’t push her into having bad habits like that, Jake.”

“Bad habits? Whaddyou mean?” He casually roasts his marshmallow over the campfire, acting proud as if nothing is wrong. “She just won’t take any shi- I mean crap from no one.” 

You refrained from commenting on his french. “Well.. yeah! But, I don’t think it’s a good idea. She’s eating something.. you know. Burnt?”

Jake blinked. “Okaay? It’s not gonna kill her, don’t worry.” He waved dismissively and drew back his marshmallow from the fire.

Only.. to realize that it was more of piece of charcoal than his daughter’s. With a bit of his pride chipped, he closed his eyes. Hearing the giddy giggles of the little girl next to him. 

“Papa burned his marshmallow!” She announced, further drowning him to shame.

“I know, I know.” You cooed, taking a bite of a small chocolate bar. “He overdid it.” 

“You just _had_ to say that.” Jake responded, having one of his rare moments where he’s flustered as ever. With a playful pout, he shoved his marshmallow back into the flames, uncaring if it burned into nothing or not. 

“Aww, Jake. How about this? I’ll make you both a s’more, with good marshmallows this time, and we can all snack in peace. Okay?”

“Peace?” Jake shook his head. “I got a better idea, why don’t we stack’em?”

You and your daughter’s face instantly contorted into confusion. “Stack.. them..? Stack what?”

Jake sighed. “The s’mores, obviously. Here, just get a graham cracker.” The man grabs a sweet cracker from it’s respective box, breaking it in half and snapping it into one piece. He proceeds to get up and grab the chocolate bars next to you, oblivious to you and the little one watching him. “Put the chocolate on it and then smush a bunch of roasted marshmallows on it too.” 

Your eyelids became droopy, once again, unamused. “Jake, that’s too many-“

“I wanna try!” The little girl jumped, springing towards her now chuckling dad. 

Welp. Looks like you’ve lost this one. You were torn between insisting on saving the marshmallows for the next camping trip, or just.. indulge in the moment for now. Nothing bad could happen anyways, you only needed to strictly reminded your daughter to brush her teeth tonight. 

“Ohhh, fine.” You resisted a smile, that ended up appearing anyway. You began gathering the marshmallows, piercing them with a stick, then roast them three at a time. 

“Don’t be like us and burn them, (Y/n).” Jake jokes, putting a ton of chocolate on a singular piece of graham cracker. 

You scoffed. “I’m nooot.” You whined, now consciously keeping a watchful eye on the marshmallows. 

You are NOT gonna burn them. Your pride wouldn’t allow it.

**_ New Possibilities  _ **

It’s been half an hour since the family camped outside. The three sat together, eating copious amounts of s’mores while they talked casually to one another. It was getting dark, the sky turning a pale orange that’s fading into a light purple, the stars glimmering above them with the crescent moon rising. The birds above fly home to their nests and unseen cicadas began their infamous buzzing, like they were talking over their friends and seeing who can buzz the loudest.

Jake sat a little sleepily against a log, listening in on the conversation you and the child are having. The kid was struggling with her words, but spoke politely about wanting to have a pet. He listened with a smile on his face as he heard you say that you’ll talk to him about it, but just from your voice, he can tell that you wanted to get her a friendly companion. Always ahead of nearly everything, Jake began thinking of animals that’ll suit the family well.

A dog is always an option, cats are as well. They have a variety of personalities, breeds, and they live longer than most animals. Or, he could get a rabbit, since they eat fruits and vegetables it’ll feel right at home with their organic meals. That, and simply because his daughter favors the rodent. The only issue is that they don’t live very long.. that’s what he heard, at least.

Maybe he can get some other exotic animal? Like a bearded dragon! He heard that they are also quite friendly and-

VRRRUMMMMM

The family jumped and stopped what they’re doing as a big, grey truck rode carelessly down a hill, miraculously hitting no trees on it’s way down. They watch in shock as the rumbling vehicle comes to a screeching halt before them, the person in the car seemingly frustrated as the truck suddenly stopped operating.

Jake quickly fished for something placed on the side of the log and stood up, gesturing his head to one side. He didn’t need to see you pull your child behind him, his mind rested in the comfort knowing that you two are there. 

He was _not_ having it today or any other day. 

Carrying a rather heavy-looking shotgun in hand, he readied the firearm and aimed directly at the person sitting in the driver’s seat. Whether or not they needed help, he did not like the way they rudely intruded on him and his family. He didn’t even care if it was an accident, he wanted them to leave.

“Don’t shoot!” Pleaded a masculine, but high-pitched voice coming from the passenger seat. Jake stood in stone, having zero intentions of lowering his gun anytime soon.

“Aye, we’re good guys! Nothin’ fishy goin’ on here!” Said a raspy, but also masculine voice. It was heavy with an accent that Jake couldn’t quite describe. Then again, he didn’t care. 

“Get out.” He ordered, loud enough for the two men to hear.

“Please!” Said the high-pitched male again. “We have a kid in here! We don’t wanna scare him!”

“Ah, he’ll be fine!” The raspy one countered before opening the door and slowly stepping out with his arms raised. Jake observes the burly man from head to toe, starting from his mullet and beard, down to the pockets of pants. He didn’t seem to be carrying anything, in fact he didn’t look suspicious at all, despite his rugged appearance. Jake’s brown eyes went to look at the other man hopping out of the car, notably a ton more scrawny than the muscular one. This man had messy hair and wore glasses, easily fitting the stereotype of that one nerdy kid in school who nobody talks to. 

“Please, don’t shoot..” The smaller of the duo almost whimpered, pulling what looked to be a small child behind him. A kid who’s maybe around his daughter’s age. He had dark hair, wore casual clothes, and honestly looked bored as if he’s been in this situation many times before. Still, Jake didn’t feel right waving a gun around in front of an innocent kid and a seemingly innocent.. pair of siblings? No.. They didn’t look alike at all. Friends? Are they a couple perhaps? He’ll find out soon. Right now, he just lowered his weapon and relaxed his tense posture. The air surrounding the group shifts from fearful, to just plain awkward now.

You held your daughter close to your stomach, facing her away from the scene. You constantly stared back and forth at the two men and Jake, but didn’t dare say a word just yet. Jake on the other hand, waited on them to say something. He turns around and sets the weapon in his hand back near the log he was lounging on. You took that as your queue to loosen the protective hold on your daughter, allowing her to turn around and stared wide-eyed at the two men, then the little boy. She’s sees random people all the time, even little kids, but rarely interacted with him. Until now, hopefully.

The little girl gasps silently when the burly man spoke, his loud and gruff voice snapping her back to reality. “Sorry to bother ya, but uh.. The name’s David!” He announced with glee.

“I’m Dwight Fairfield.” Said the timid one. “I apologize on my boyfriend’s behalf. We were running out of gas and we needed help, but we didn’t see anyone nearby.“

“So I drove around ‘till I found somebody! Didn’t mean t’damn near run ya over though, heh!”

“It’s alright.” Jake responds without looking at anyone but the fire, his voice emotionless and stale. “We’ll help you.”

“Will ya? I’ll be happy to pay!”

David’s attitude.. though with morbid humor, it still brightened up the mood and the kid found herself smiling. She began to hear you cheerfully say, “Nice meeting you two! My name is (Y/n), the man over there is my husband Jake, and this is-“ The girl drowned your voice out, staring back at the little boy who’s being introduced as well. She steps away from you and slowly walks over to him, as if he’s a precious, wild animal that’s prone to skitter away.

But he didn’t. 

The very moment he looked at her, she got cold feet. She’s never talked to another kid before, she’s never been this close to one either. She wondered if her father would get mad at her, he’d always told her to stay away from strangers. Even if they were kids. 

He’s not saying anything now though, so it’s fine, right? With the boy and the girl just staring at each other, the former rose an eyebrow and waved a palm in front of her face. “Hello.” 

“Hi.” She responded almost immediately, waving her hand before bringing both of her hands together. The girl felt scared, but extremely happy at the same time. Should she run away, or stay?

“Want some chocolate?” The boy asked with caution, catching on to the other kid’s stiff composure. He didn’t say anything about it, he didn’t need to really, her body language told him everything he need to know. As he walked over to the bags that carried their snacks, he picked up the nearly empty package of chocolate sticking out of the bag. He then made his way back over to his unfollowing acquaintance and hands it to her. “Here you go.”

She doesn’t say a word, yet. Instead, she grabs the snack and holds it tightly, her big brown eyes never leaving his. “Thank you.” She spoke meekly, shoulders dropping along with some of the nervous tension. Even though it was her own snacks, he couldn’t help but to feel grateful.

“Welcome!” He chirped and gave a bright, toothy smile. Just happy to have done something to make her feel better and less uncomfortable. The little girl nodded, watching as he went back to the big man named David, who’s still talking to her parents.

Well, parent. Jake wasn’t at all interested in engaging in the conversation.

“I can’t thank ya enough for the help. Seriously! Y’all come around here often?” David asks, his voice hearty and colorful.

“Welll, we live around here.” You responded, feeling Jake’s eyes burning holes into the back of your head. “We live in this forest, not far from here.”

Dwight jumped in the conversation. “Really?! We’d love to see you guys again, and I’m sure our son will too. You see..” Dwight looks solemnly over to the bored little boy holding David’s hand. “He doesn’t um, have a lot of uh.. friends.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Continues David. “Maybe we can set up one of those lil’ play dates for the kids for somethin’! How’s that sound?”

Set up? Playdates? See each other again? Your eyes lit up at the words, this is the perfect opportunity for your daughter to befriend someone. Not only that, you and Jake can also befriend this couple. You had a strong feeling that something great would come out of this. Your excited gaze settles on Jake sitting down behind you, begrudgingly chewing on the last graham cracker while giving judgmental stares at the three of you. You threw a sheepishly needy smile at him, to which he responded by locking eyes with you. About a second later, the quiet man gave a hesitant nod.

“That sounds great!” You say to David and Dwight, turning to them now. “We’d love to see you all again sometime!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yum. 🍫 
> 
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
